U.S. Rests in Trial of Alleged Members of Mexican Mafia

After 4 1/2 months of presenting 104 witnesses, 15 secret videotapes and more than 200 secret audio recordings, the prosecution rested Friday in its racketeering and conspiracy case against 13 reputed members and associates of the Mexican Mafia prison gang.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Lisa Lench rested the government’s case after playing one last audio tape that turned out to have a prophetic touch.

On the tape, a surreptitious recording of a telephone call in April 1995, defendant and suspected Mexican Mafia member Ruben “Nite Owl” Castro was heard warning another defendant in the case, “Shakey Joe” Hernandez, that federal officials might soon be swooping down on them.

“You gotta be extra, extra careful,” Castro said, cautioning Hernandez that a grand jury might be investigating them. Federal investigators, Castro added, also might be listening in on Hernandez’s telephone calls.

Finally, he ventured, there might be an informant, a turncoat within the secretive prison gang. “It might be too late already” to react to these suspicions, Castro said.

About a month after the call, Castro’s suspicions turned out to be true.

A federal grand jury returned a 26-count indictment against suspected members and associates of the Eme--which is Spanish for the letter M and is a name commonly used for the gang.

Major portions of the government’s case included wiretaps of conversations intercepted on Hernandez’s phone and the lengthy testimony of Ernest “Chuco” Castro, a former Eme member who became a government informant and paved the way for the secret recordings.

The indictment charged violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act for allegedly ordering hits on fellow members or others who opposed the Eme, requiring Los Angeles street gangs to pay “taxes” for selling drugs, and committing other violent acts.

The defense, which maintains that there is no such thing as the Mexican Mafia, is scheduled to begin its case in chief Wednesday.

The prosecution’s last witness was FBI Special Agent James Myers, who coordinated the investigation of the Eme.

Myers, who testified in January, was brought back to refute some points scored by defense attorneys in their lengthy cross-examination of Ernest Castro, who is not related to Ruben Castro.

Ernest Castro, for example, admitted that he had not entirely lived up to a grant-of-immunity agreement he got from federal prosecutors, failing to reveal that he had illegally possessed weapons as an informant.

He also admitted on cross-examination that he brought up the subject of possible action against actor Edward James Olmos, whose 1992 film “American Me” had displeased the Eme. Defense attorneys charged, and Ernest Castro denied, that he was ordering hits on opponents while an informant.

Myers, who admonished Ernest Castro about the weapons, testified that investigators had asked Castro to bring up Olmos’ name at a Nov. 2, 1994, meeting to determine if anything was brewing against the actor. He added that Ernest Castro was authorized to conduct unlawful acts, like participating in conversations that resulted in contract hits, as long as they were on tapes that he either recorded or agreed to let the FBI record.

That way, Myers said, investigators could take action if they learned of a planned hit. Forty notifications of possible hits were sent to individuals and law enforcement agencies, he said. Among those receiving notice were several gang members who testified for the prosecution.

Defendant Ruben “Tupi” Hernandez, his attorney contended, could have benefited from a notice. He was attacked by several other defendants last year before the trial began. Authorities have not said whether they were aware of any plans to attack Ruben Hernandez. Because of ill will between him and the others on trial, Hernandez is being kept at a separate facility.